He resigned as Conservative Leader after the 2001 general election following his party's second landslide defeat, at which the Conservatives made a net gain of just one seat; he thus became the first leader of the party, since the role was established in the early 1920s, not to be elected Prime Minister.[2] He returned to the backbenches, pursuing a career as an author, writing biographies of William Pitt the Younger and William Wilberforce. He also held several directorships, and worked as a consultant and public speaker.

On 14 July 2014, Hague stood down as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to become Leader of the House of Commons in preparation for his planned retirement from electoral politics, after 26 years as an MP, at 2015 general election,[4] when he did not put his name forward for re-election.

He first made the national news at the age of 16 by addressing the Conservatives at their 1977 Annual National Conference. In his speech he told the delegates: "half of you won't be here in 30 or 40 years' time..., but that others would have to live with consequences of a Labour Government if it stayed in power".[10]

Hague read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Magdalen College, Oxford, graduating with first-class honours. He was President of the Oxford University Conservative Association (OUCA), but was "convicted of electoral malpractice" in the election process.[11] OUCA's official historian, David Blair, notes that Hague was actually elected on a platform pledging to clean up OUCA, but that this was "tarnished by accusations that he misused his position as Returning Officer to help the Magdalen candidate for the presidency, Peter Havey. Hague was playing the classic game of using his powers as President to keep his faction in power, and Havey was duly elected.... There were accusations of blatant ballot box stuffing".[12]

At the age of 36, Hague was tasked with rebuilding the Conservative Party (fresh from their worst general election result of the 20th century)[19] by attempting to build a more modern image. £250,000 was spent on the "Listening to Britain" campaign to try to put the Conservatives back in touch with the public after losing power; he welcomed ideas about "compassionate conservatism" including from the then-Governor of Texas, later President George W. Bush.[20]

Hague steered the Conservatives to a successful result at the European parliamentary elections in June 1999, where the Conservatives gained 36 MEPs ahead of Labour's 29;[22] his opposition to the single European currency (the Euro) was later vindicated by Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown's adoption and subsequent approval of the policy.[23]

Hague's authority was challenged by the appointment of Michael Portillo as Shadow Chancellor in 2000. Portillo had been widely tipped to be the next Conservative Party Leader before dramatically losing his seat at the 1997 general election; he was elected as MP for Kensington and Chelsea at a by-election two years later.[24] Soon after Portillo's return to Parliament, Conservative policy of two of Labour's flagship policies was reversed: the minimum wage and independence of the Bank of England. From then and until the 2001 general election Hague's supporters waged an increasingly bitter battle with Portillo's faction; such internecine war significantly contributed to the Conservatives' two subsequent election defeats.

Hague was widely ridiculed for claiming he used to drink "14 pints of beer a day" as a teenager.[25][26] His reputation suffered further damage when a 2001 poll for The Daily Telegraph found that 66% of voters considered him to be "a bit of a wally", and 70% of voters believed he would "say almost anything to win votes".[27]

"Foreign Land" speech

We have a Government that has contempt for the views of the people it governs.

There is nothing that the British people can talk about that this Labour Government doesn't deride.

Talk about Europe and they call you extreme. Talk about tax and they call you greedy. Talk about crime and they call you reactionary. Talk about immigration and they call you racist; talk about your nation and they call you Little Englanders.... This Government thinks Britain would be all right if we had a different people. I think Britain would be all right, if only we had a different government.

A Conservative government that speaks with the voice of the British people.

A Conservative government never embarrassed or ashamed of the British people.

A Conservative government that trusts the people [....] This country must always offer sanctuary to those fleeing from injustice. Conservative Governments always have, and always will. But it's precisely those genuine refugees who are finding themselves elbowed aside.[28]

Former Conservative Deputy Prime Minister Michael Heseltine, a prominent One-Nation Conservative, was critical of Hague's Eurosceptic view that Britain was becoming a "foreign land", betraying in newspaper interviews that he was uncertain as to whether he could support a Hague-led Conservative Party.[29]

In more than 20 years in politics, he has betrayed every cause he believed in, contradicted every statement he has made, broken every promise he has given and breached every agreement that he has entered into.... There is a lifetime of U-turns, errors and sell-outs. All those Honourable Members who sit behind the Prime Minister and wonder whether they stand for anything any longer, or whether they defend any point of principle, know who has led them to that sorry state.[32]

... he started the fuel protest bandwagon, then the floods bandwagon; on defence it became armour-plated, then on air traffic control it became airborne.... Yes, the Right Honourable gentleman made a very witty, funny speech, but it summed up his leadership: good jokes, lousy judgment. I am afraid that in the end, if the Right Honourable gentleman really aspires to stand at this despatch box, he will have to get his policies sorted out and his party sorted out, and offer a vision for the country's future, not a vision that would take us backwards.[33]

Resignation

On the morning of Labour's second consecutive landslide victory at the 2001 general election, Hague stated: "we have not been able to persuade a majority, or anything approaching a majority, that we are yet the alternative government that they need."[34] At the 2001 general election the Conservative Party gained just one parliamentary seat more than at the 1997 general election; following this defeat, Hague resigned as party leader.

Backbenches

On the backbenches he occasionally spoke in the House of Commons on issues of the day. Between 1997 and 2002, he was the Chairman of the International Democrat Union. Hague's profile and personal popularity rose thereafter among both Conservative Party members and the wider public following his spell as Party Leader. He has written a biography of 18th-century Prime Minister Pitt the Younger (published in 2004), taught himself how to play the piano, and hosted the 25th anniversary programme for Radio 4 on the political television satire Yes Minister in 2005. In June 2007 he published his second book, a biography of the anti-slave trade campaigner William Wilberforce, shortlisted for the 2008 Orwell Prize for political writing.[35]

Hague's annual income was the highest in Parliament, with earnings of about £400,000 a year from directorships, consultancy, speeches and his parliamentary salary. His income was previously estimated at £1 million annually, but he dropped several commitments and in effect took a salary cut of some £600,000 on becoming Shadow Foreign Secretary in 2005.[36][37]

In August 2010, Hague set out a values-based foreign policy, stating that: "We cannot have a foreign policy without a conscience. Foreign policy is domestic policy written large. The values we live by at home do not stop at our shores. Human rights are not the only issue that informs the making of foreign policy, but they are indivisible from it, not least because the consequences of foreign policy failure are human".[41]

Hague further said that: "There will be no downgrading of human rights under this Government and no resiling from our commitments to aid and development". He continued saying that "Indeed I intend to improve and strengthen our human rights work. It is not in our character as a nation to have a foreign policy without a conscience, and neither is it in our interests".[42] However, in March 2011, Hague was criticised by Cardinal Keith O'Brien for increasing financial aid to Pakistan despite persecution of its Christian minority: "To increase aid to the Pakistan Government when religious freedom is not upheld and those who speak up for religious freedom are gunned down is tantamount to an anti-Christian foreign policy".[43]

In September 2011, Hague told BBC Radio 4's File on 4 investigation Cyber Spies into the legality of domestic cyber surveillance and the export of this technology from the UK to countries with questionable human rights records that the UK had a strong export licence system. The programme also obtained confirmation from the UK's Department for Business Innovation and Skills that cyber surveillance products that break, as opposed to create, encryption do not require export licences.[44]

In June 2012, he continued to stand in for David Cameron at PMQs when both the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg were out of the country.

Media reaction to FCO appointment

In early September 2010, newspapers including The Daily Telegraph, The Independent and Daily Mail released stories about allegations surrounding Hague's friendship with 25-year-old Christopher Myers,[46] a history graduate from Durham University, whom he employed as a parliamentary special adviser. A spokesperson stated that "Any suggestion that the Foreign Secretary's relationship with Chris Myers is anything other than a purely professional one is wholly inaccurate and unfounded."[47]

On 1 September 2010, Myers resigned from his appointment in light of that press speculation,[48] which prompted Hague to issue a public statement, wherein he confirmed that he had "occasionally" shared a hotel room with Myers [for reasons of frugality by upbringing], but refuting the "utterly false" suggestions that he had ever been involved in a relationship with any man.[49] A spokesperson for Prime Minister David Cameron reported that he gave his "full support" over the media rumours.[50] Figures from both within and without the Conservative Party criticised Hague for his personal response to the stories, with former Conservative leadership candidate, John Redwood, commenting that Hague had shown "poor judgement",[51] and the Speaker's wife, Labour-supporting Sally Bercow, speculating that Hague had been given "duff PR advice",[52] whilst a parliamentary and ministerial colleague, the Conservative MP, Alan Duncan, described the media coverage as "contemptible".[53]

Israel–Palestinian conflict

Hague was criticised by Israeli leaders after meeting with Palestinians who demonstrated against Israel's barrier in the West Bank. He expressed solidarity with the idea of non-violence and listened to the accounts of left-wing and Palestinian activists. IsraeliOpposition LeaderTzipi Livni condemned the statements and said:

"The security barrier has saved lives, and its construction was necessary. The barrier has separated Israel from Palestinian cities and completely changed the reality in Israel, where citizens were exposed to terror every day".[54]

2011 Middle East protests

In February 2011 security forces in the Bahrain dispersed thousands of anti-government protesters at Pearl Square in the centre of the capital, Manama. Hague informed the House of Commons that he had stressed the need for peaceful action in dealing with the protesters: "At least three people died in the operation, with hundreds more injured. We are greatly concerned about the deaths that have occurred. I have this morning spoken to the Foreign Minister of Bahrain and HM Ambassador spoke last night to the Bahraini Minister of the Interior. In both cases we stressed the need for peaceful action to address the concerns of protesters, the importance of respect for the right to peaceful protest and for freedom of expression".[55]

Hague told Sky News that the use of force by the Libyan authorities during the 2011 Libyan Civil War was "dreadful and horrifying" and called on the leader to respect people's human rights. A vicious crackdown led by special forces, foreign mercenaries and Muammar Gaddafi loyalists was launched in the country's second city Benghazi, which has been the focus of anti-regime protests. Hague stated to Dermot Murnaghan on Sky: "I think we have to increase the international pressure and condemnation. The United Kingdom condemns what the Libyan Government has been doing and how they have responded to these protests, and we look to other countries to do the same".[56]

In March 2011, Hague said in a speech to business leaders that the examples being set in north Africa and the Middle East will ultimately transform the relationship between governments and their populations in the region. However following the row over whether Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was being targeted by coalition forces, the Foreign Secretary stated that the Libyan people must be free to determine their own future. Hague said: "It is not for us to choose the government of Libya—that is for the Libyan people themselves. But they have a far greater chance of making that choice now than they did on Saturday, when the opposition forces were on the verge of defeat."[58]

Hague has warned that autocratic leaders including Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe, could be shaken and even toppled by a wave of popular uprisings rippling out from north Africa. said that recent revolts against authoritarian leaders in countries including Libya and Egypt will have a greater historic significance than the 9/11 attacks on the US or the recent financial crisis. He stopped short of threatening military intervention against other dictators, but warned that they will inevitably face "judgement" for oppressing their people and suppressing democracy. Repressive African régimes will also face challenges from their populations and from the international community, the Foreign Secretary said: "Demands for freedom will spread, and that undemocratic governments elsewhere should take heed." He added: "Governments that use violence to stop democratic development will not earn themselves respite forever. They will pay an increasingly high price for actions which they can no longer hide from the world with ease, and will find themselves on the wrong side of history."[59]

Hague, on his way to Qatar Summit in April 2011, called for intensified sanctions on the Libyan régime and for a clear statement that Gaddafi must go: "we have sent more ground strike aircraft in order to protect civilians. We do look to other countries to do the same, if necessary, over time". "We would like a continued increase in our (NATO's) capability to protect civilians in Libya", he added. Whether NATO ratcheted up operations depended on what happened on the ground, Hague said. "These air strikes are a response to movements of, or attacks from, régime forces so what happens will be dependent on that", he said. Whether the Americans could again be asked to step up their role would also "depend on the circumstances", he added.[60]

Hague, speaking on the protests in Syria said "Political reforms should be brought forward and implemented without delay". It is thought as many as 60 people have been killed by security forces in the country today (22 April 2011), making it the worst day for deaths since protests against President Bashar al-Assad began over a month ago, reported BBC News.[61]

Syria

Speaking on the Syrian Civil War in August 2011 Hague said of military intervention: "It's not a remote possibility. Even if we were in favour [of UN-backed military action], which we are not because there's no call from the Arab League for intervention as in the case of Libya, there is no prospect of a legal, morally sanctioned military intervention. Hague added that it was a "frustrating situation" and that the "levers" at the international community's disposal were severely limited but said countries had to concentrate on other ways of influencing the Assad government. "We want to see stronger international pressure all round. Of course, to be effective that just can't be pressure from Western nations, that includes from Arab nations... and it includes from Turkey who has been very active in trying to persuade President Assad to reform instead of embarking on these appalling actions", he said. "I would also like to see a United Nations Security Council Resolution to condemn this violence, to call for the release of political prisoners, to call for legitimate grievances to be responded to", he added.[62]

On 24 February 2012, Hague recognised the Syrian National Council as a "legitimate representative" of the country. Hague also said Bashar al-Assad's government had "forfeited the right to lead" by "miring itself in the blood of innocent people". Hague said: "Today we must show that we will not abandon the Syrian people in their darkest hour". He added that "Those responsible for the murder of entire families, the shelling of homes, the execution of detainees, the cleansing of political opponents and the torture and rape of women and children must be held to account", he said.[63]

In March 2012, Hague ordered the evacuation of all British diplomats from Syria and closed the UK embassy in Damascus because of mounting security threats. Hague told Parliament: "We have maintained an embassy in Damascus despite the violence to help us communicate with all parties in Syria and to provide insight into the situation on the ground". He added: "We now judge that the deterioration of the security situation in Damascus puts our embassy staff and premises at risk.” Hague said that his decision “in no way reduces the UK's commitment to active diplomacy to maintain pressure on the Assad régime to end the violence". He went on to say that: “We will continue to work closely with other nations to co-ordinate diplomatic and economic pressure on the Syrian régime.”[64]

On 1 April 2012, Hague met 74 other nations at a Friends of Syria Group conference in Istanbul, Turkey. Hague said the issue could return to the United Nations Security Council if current efforts to resolve the crisis fail. The government of President Assad has said it accepts a peace plan by the UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, but there has been little evidence that it is prepared to end its crackdown on the opposition. Hague accused Assad of "stalling for time" and warned that if the issue does return to the Security Council, he may no longer be able to rely on the backing of Russia and China, who blocked a previous resolution calling for him to stand down. "There isn't an unlimited period of time for this, for the Kofi Annan process to work before many of the nations here want us to go back to the UN Security Council—some of them will call for arming the opposition if there isn't progress made," Hague told the BBC. He added that "What is now being put to them is a plan from Kofi Annan supported by the whole United Nations Security Council, and this is an important point, it's supported by Russia and by China as well as by the more obvious countries—the United States, the United Kingdom, France, the Arab League and so on".[65]

On 20 November 2012, Hague recognised the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces as the "sole legitimate representative" of the Syrian people, and a credible alternative to the current Syrian Government.[66]

On 29 August 2013, the British Parliament refused to ratify the British Government's plan to participate in military strikes against the Syrian Government in the wake of a chemical-weapons attack at Ghouta.[67] Hague denied suggestions that he had threatened to resign over Prime Minister David Cameron's decision to go straight to a parliamentary vote.[68] After the vote, Hague continued to urge other governments to take action against the Syrian Government, saying "If it is decided in the various parliaments of the world that no-one will stand up to the use of chemical weapons and take any action about that, that would be a very alarming moment in the affairs of the world".[69] Ultimately a negotiated agreement was reached to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons.

Proposal of elected EU presidency

In June 2011, Hague dismissed Tony Blair's vision for an elected-head of the European Union by insisting that member states have more pressing priorities than further "constitutional tinkering". Hague made clear his view after Blair argued that a directly-elected President of Europe, representing almost 400m people from 27 countries, would give the EU clear leadership and enormous authority. In an interview with The Times, Blair set out the agenda that he thought a directly-elected EU President should pursue, although he conceded, there was "no chance" of such a post being created "at the present time". Asked about the former Prime Minister's call for further European integration and the creation of an elected-President, Hague suggested that Blair may have been thinking of the role for himself. "I can't think who he had in mind", Hague joked, further adding on a serious note: "Elected presidents are for countries. The EU is not a country and it's not going to become a country, in my view, now or ever in the future. It is a group of countries working together".[70]

Taliban talks

In June 2011, Hague said that Britain helped initiate "distasteful" peace talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Hague made the comments while on a three-day tour of the country to meet President Hamid Karzai and visited British troops. He told The Sun newspaper that Britain had led the way in persuading US President Barack Obama's administration that negotiation was the best potential solution to the conflict. Hague admitted that any deal might mean accepting "distasteful things" and could anger military veterans and relatives of the 374 British troops killed in Afghanistan. However, he said he believed that Britain as a whole was "realistic and practical" enough to accept that ending fighting and starting talks was the best way to safeguard national security. He told the newspaper: "An eventual settlement of these issues is the ultimate and most desirable way of safeguarding that national security." He added, "but reconciliation with people who have been in a military conflict can be very distasteful. In all these types of situations, you do have to face up to some distasteful things." The previous night US President Barack Obama told Americans that "the tide of war is receding" as he announced plans to withdraw 33,000 US troops from Afghanistan by September 2012.[71]

Comments on the Euro

In September 2011, Hague said that the Euro is "a burning building with no exits" for some of the countries which adopted the currency. Hague first used the expression when he was Conservative Leader in 1998—and said in an interview with The Spectator he had been proved right: "It was folly to create this system. It will be written about for centuries as a kind of historical monument to collective folly. But it's there and we have to deal with it," he said. "I described the Euro as a burning building with no exits and so it has proved for some of the countries in it," he further said, adding "I might take the analogy too far but the Euro wasn't built with exits so it is very difficult to leave it".[72]

Iran

In February 2012, Hague warned in a BBC interview about Iran's "increasing willingness to contemplate" terrorism around the world. He cited the 2011 Iran assassination plot, an attempt to assassinate Adel al-Jubeir, the Saudi Ambassador to the United States, as well as alleged involvement in recent attacks in New Delhi, Georgia, and Bangkok. He said it showed "the danger Iran is currently presenting to the peace of the world".[73]

Hague spoke the Commons on 20 February about the nuclear program of Iran and said that if the Tehran régime managed to construct a viable weapon, its neighbours would be forced to build their own nuclear warheads too. He accused Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of pursuing "confrontational policies" and described the country's enrichment of uranium in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions as "a crisis coming steadily down the track". "Our policy is that whilst we remain unswervingly committed to diplomacy, it is important to emphasise to Iran that all options are on the table", Hague told MPs.[74]

In March he condemned the way parliamentary elections were staged, claiming they were not "free and fair". He said the poll had been held against a backdrop of fear that meant the result would not reflect the will of the people. Hague said: "It has been clear for some time that these elections would not be free and fair. "The régime has presented the vote as a test of loyalty, rather than an opportunity for people freely to choose their own representatives. The climate of fear, created by the régime's crushing of opposition voices since 2009, persists."[75]

Falkland Islands

2 April 2012 marked the 30th anniversary of the start of the 1982 Falklands War. On 29 March, before the Lord Mayor of London's banquet guests, namely the entire foreign diplomatic corps of more than 100 ambassadors, including Alicia Castro (Argentinian Ambassador), Hague said the UK was keen to deepen its relationship with Latin America—and reiterated Britain's commitment to the Falklands. He said: "We are reversing Britain’s decline in Latin America, where we are opening a new Embassy in El Salvador. This determination to deepen our relations with Latin America is coupled with our steadfast commitment to the right of self-determination of the people of the Falkland Islands".

Tensions over the Falklands had risen in the weeks prior to the anniversary. In February, Hague said deployments of a British warship, HMS Dauntless and the Duke of Cambridge to the Falklands were "entirely routine". Hague said that Britain affirmed the Falklanders' self-determination and would seek to prevent Argentina from "raising the diplomatic temperature" over the issue. He further said: "(the events) are not so much celebrations as commemorations. I think Argentina will also be holding commemorations of those who died in the conflict. Since both countries will be doing that I don't think there is anything provocative about that."[76]

Hague confirmed the British Government's position – that it is lawfully obliged to extradite Julian Assange. "We're disappointed by the statement by Ecuador's Foreign Minister today that Ecuador has offered political asylum to Julian Assange. Under our Laws, with Mr. Assange having exhausted all options of appeal, the British authorities are under a binding obligation to extradite him to Sweden. We must carry out that obligation and of course we fully intend to do so," Hague confirmed.

Following The Guardian newspaper outcry over a Foreign Office note sanctioned by Hague sent to the Ecuadorian Embassy—in which it raised the possibility of the revocation of their diplomatic status under the Diplomatic and Consular Premises Act 1987—the Foreign Secretary reaffirmed the UK remained "committed to a diplomatic solution" and played down any suggestion of a police raid of the Ecuadorian Embassy, stating "there is no threat here to storm an embassy".[80][81]

In a surprise motion on his last day in the House of Commons, Hague moved to make the election for Speaker in the next parliament a secret ballot, in what was seen as an effort to oust the incumbent John Bercow, for lacking the neutrality expected of a Speaker of the House.

Charles Walker, Chairman of the Procedure Committee and responsible for Speaker elections, stated that he had written a report about such an idea "years ago" and despite speaking with Hague and Michael Gove earlier that week, neither had told him of any such move. A visibly emotional Walker, Conservative MP for Broxbourne, told the House: "I have been played for a fool and when I go home tonight I will look in the mirror and see an honourable fool looking back at me"; Walker received a standing ovation mainly from the Labour benches [for holding fast to values] whilst the Government lost its parliamentary motion by 228 to 202 votes.[87][88]

Personal life

He serves as a Vice-President of the Friends of the British Library, which provides funding support to the British Library to make new acquisitions.[89] Hague is a Patron of the European Youth Parliament UK,[90] an educational charity organisation that runs debating competitions and discussion forums across the UK. Hague, who practises judo,[91] has a keen interest in music, learning to play the piano in his early 40s. He is also an enthusiast for the natural history and countryside of his native Yorkshire.[92]